1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to security systems for data and, more particularly, to security systems that protect data in an inter/intra enterprise environment.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet is the fastest growing telecommunications medium in history. This growth and the easy access it affords have significantly enhanced the opportunity to use advanced information technology for both the public and private sectors. It provides unprecedented opportunities for interaction and data sharing among businesses and individuals. However, the advantages provided by the Internet come with a significantly greater element of risk to the confidentiality and integrity of information. The Internet is an open, public and international network of interconnected computers and electronic devices. Without proper security measures, an unauthorized person or machine may intercept any information traveling across the Internet, and may even get access to proprietary information stored in computers that interconnect to the Internet but are otherwise generally inaccessible by the public.
There are many efforts in progress aimed at protecting proprietary information traveling across the Internet and controlling access to computers carrying the proprietary information. Cryptography allows people to carry over the confidence found in the physical world to the electronic world, thus allowing people to do business electronically without worries of deceit and deception. Every day hundreds of thousands of people interact electronically, whether it is through e-mail, e-commerce (business conducted over the Internet), ATM machines or cellular phones. The perpetual increase of information transmitted electronically has lead to an increased reliance on cryptography.
One of the ongoing efforts in protecting the proprietary information traveling across the Internet is to use one or more cryptographic techniques to secure a private communication session between two communicating computers on the Internet. Cryptographic techniques provide a way to transmit information across an unsecure communication channel without disclosing the contents of the information to anyone eavesdropping on the communication channel. An encryption process is a cryptographic technique whereby one party can protect the contents of data in transit from access by an unauthorized third party, yet the intended party can read the data using a corresponding decryption process.
Conventionally, network browsers (e.g., Internet or Windows browsers) are utilized to access content remotely located on the World Wide Web. In other words, with a network browser, a user can request a resource that is remotely located on a remote server coupled to the Internet. Alternatively, a network browser can be used to transmit a file to a remote server coupled to the Internet. Hence, network browsers are effective at allowing communications between network browsers and remote servers. Although network browsers greatly facilitate access to data, when network browsers are used on computing systems that utilize file security systems, network browsers present a security problem. More specifically, a network browser presents a security risk because it can transmit any of the files it accesses to a remote server (remote site). Hence, the security provided on secured files can be lost if unsecured versions of secured files are made available to network browsers. However, when the network browser merely desires access to the files for display or other non-transmission purposes, then the network browser does not present a security risk. Accordingly, if the network browser does intend to transmit a file to an unsecured remote server, then the security for the file as provided by the file security system is compromised.
Thus, there is an need for improved techniques to enable file security systems to permit the use of network browsers yet preserve the security on secured files.